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Jaguars outlast Southwestern for 15th win

East Jessamine boys' basketball

February 02, 2011|By Jonathan Stark | jstark@jessaminejournal.com

Photo by Jonathan Stark

The East Jessamine boys’ basketball team had just 15 wins all of last season. On Tuesday night the Jags matched last year’s win total, downing Southwestern 59-56.

“This team has done this (won close games) so many times this year. I think if you go back and look at our overall record, I think that’s our seventh win of four or less points,” East coach Chris O’Bryan said. It was actually the Jags’ ninth win by four or less. “Good teams go out and win despite whether they play well or not; they find a way to win, and this team has done that all year long.”

With 4:44 remaining in the game, the Warriors hit a three-pointer to tie the game 48-48 and came right back with a bucket on their next trip to go ahead by two with less than four minutes remaining.

Trailing for the first time since the second quarter, East’s defense stepped up and held Southwestern without a basket for the next 90 seconds, giving the Jags offense a chance to reclaim the lead. Jordan Redd made it a one-point game, sinking a free throw, and Andrew Brockman put East ahead by one with bucket. A pair of free throws by Cody Collins gave East a three-point advantage.

Southwestern stayed within one or two in the final two minutes, but a basket by Redd, two more free throws by Collins and a bucket by Michael Rexroat with just under a minute to go secured the win for East. Southwestern got a decent look at a three-pointer as time expired, but Redd blocked the attempt.

East Jessamine didn’t take its first lead until 13 minutes into the game. Hot three-point shooting by Southwestern allowed it to jump out to a quick lead. The Warriors connected from three-point range thrice in first period.

For East, Rexroat was starting to heat up from behind the line as well. He hit a three-pointer for the Jags’ first basket of the game and once again to close out the quarter and bring East within three, 16-13.

Dusty Webb tied the game 18-18, and Timmy Bradshaw hit a short-range shot from the baseline to put East on top 21-20 with 2:58 before halftime. Bradshaw stepped back and hit a three on East’s next trip to put the Jags ahead four points.

“That was really big for us; we were struggling there a little bit on the offensive side, and that gave us a nice little cushion,” O’Bryan said.

East outscored Southwestern 15-6 in the second quarter, taking a 28-22 lead into the locker room at the half.

A 6-0 run by East in the middle of the third quarter gave the Jags their largest lead of the night, nine points.

After not making a three-pointer in the second or third quarter, the Warriors found their stroke again in the fourth, knocking down back-to-back treys early on to bring them within two, and it was a deep ball that tied the game at 48-48.

Rexroat led East with 20 points; Redd added 14. Collins had just six points, but four of them came from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter when the Jags needed them most.

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